Roundhay and Lord Darcy

This beautiful spring morning, Ryan and I took his Mom to Roundhay Park. He wanted to show her a true folly, which can be found in Roundhay Park. We talked with a dog owner whom was taking her twelve week old dog on his very first walk! She then guided us to see the swan sitting on a nest of seven eggs on the upper lake! Then we walked on, enjoying the fragrant smells coming from the forest. We showed Kay the Chelsea Flower Show gardens…complete with a mill and many fountains!

For lunch, we wanted to ensure Kay had lunch at The Lord Darcy (from the movie Pride and Prejudice). This is a local pub, which has wonderful food yet may be best known more for its infamous name! Unfortunately, Lord Darcy himself was not seen there, but now Kay can say she at least ate lunch with him! 😉

Tomorrow Kay will fly back to Kansas and we are sad to see her go. Yet we are also so very glad for the time we have had together this month she has visited!

Kirkstall Abbey with Kay

It was another lovely early afternoon spent at Kirkstall Abbey. We have taken Ryan’s Mum there twice this week. Once we only viewed the outside, as the inside was closed. But today was Market Day at Kirkstall Abbey and so it was open with many food stalls to be investigated! Kay enjoyed a Tex Mex burrito, which is a bit unusual to find in England, that was actually spicy! The kids and I enjoyed a pulled pork sandwich doused in actual Carolina sauce accompanied by tasty sweet pitt beans!

As usual, the kids enjoyed climbing around the Abbey grounds and on the ruins. And they loved climbing the most beautiful Japanese Cherry tree blossoming in bright pink array! This tree amazes me as it has many nails which have been hammered into it and it has quite a large hole under it which has resulted in it growing sideways. Yet despite these scars, this tree has continued to grow in majestic beauty! This is exactly what I tried to teach Cora and Titus as we sat on the limbs of this rare beauty!

High Tea for Kay

We are very grateful to Sarah and Johnny for hosting high tea for yet another of our U.S. visitors! Sarah laid the table with china, her grandmother’s Indian teapot, cucumber sandwiches, scones, cakes, sausage rolls, hummus, carrots, toast, and much much more! I tried my hand at a Victoria Sponge, which had a bit much baking soda flavour to suit me. So, I will just have to try again in the near future! 😉 Sarah even blessed Kay with an antique sugar spoon! As always, we had lively conversation as our children played together running in and out to sample the food! This was a lovely afternoon that I am sure Kay will treasure forever as she returns to the States.

Grandma Kay’s Birthday!

What a blessing it was to be able to spend this beautifully sunny day with Ryan’s Mom in our midst! We set off this morning for Harewood House where we strolled through the gorgeous Himalayan and walled gardens. Kay even braved the stepping stones amongst the waterfall! The inside of the elaborate Harewood House was a sight to behold as we wandered the many rooms which once held royalty. Princess Mary, whom was the Queen’s Aunt, lived there as did the Queen’s cousin. Kay loved looking about this great manor home where many a movie has been filmed! Now she will be able to properly visualise what it must have been like living in a stately home. After touring the servant’s quarters, we had tea sitting on the veranda at Harewood House. Kay even found some second hand books which she just had to take home!

After school, we had tea and true English coffee cake, which is made, at home…delicious if I do say so myself! Presents opened, Kay retired with the children on the sofa in front of the movie “Enchanted” whilst Ryan cooked dinner and I tried my hand at a Victoria Sponge for high tea tomorrow. Dinner was quite delicious as we enjoyed Rissoles smothered in gravy accompanied by brussels sprouts. And as Kay has just went to bed greatly satisfied on her birthday, I’d say this was a very grand day indeed! In fact, I enjoyed the day at Harewood SO much that I might have thought it was my birthday!

First time bowling

Cora and Titus were invited to a friend’s sixth birthday party, which happened to be located at a bowling alley. This was Cora and Titus’s first time bowling and they both proved to be quite natural! Titus even won, by one point, over the birthday girl whom has bowled often! Cora also tried bowling without the ramp aide. All the children in attendance had such fun running about the arcade and later enjoyed a meal of their choice accompanied by ice cream. Much fun!

York with Grandma

This beautiful Yorkshire day we drove to the city of York. Ryan showed Grandma the inside of York Minster whilst Cora and Titus and I enjoyed the Minster gardens. We roamed the streets of York and popped in and out of shops on our way to the Queen’s Birthday celebration in the Abbey Park. There we listened to the military brass band play music in the park before sounding a 21 gun salute with field artillery in honour of the Queen’s Birthday. Oddly enough Titus was not as keen as Cora. However, we stumbled upon a BBQ stall, complete with smoked briscuit and burgers, which we enjoyed eating in the square. After viewing more shops we had mid-afternoon tea and cake, and the kids had ice cream sundaes, at The Teddy Bear Tea Room. Finally we walked the historic York City wall built by the Romans. The kids were so tired that Titus slept on the drive home and both were asleep in bed shortly after 7pm! It was another great day in beautiful York!

Good Friday and Easter

Why is it called Good Friday? What is really “good” about it? Jesus whom died on the cross for all sins! This was the first Good Friday church service we have attended in England (since the kids are poorly last year). When we entered all chairs were arranged in a large circle. The mood was somber as we listened to instrumental music between readings of Scripture and prayers. Cora and Titus were SO well behaved, which made Ryan, Grandma, and I very proud as they were the only children in attendance. Afterwards, Anna joined us for lunch at the first buffet where I have ever used stairs to walk to the multiple selections of food! The kids loved the ice cream! On our walk into the restaurant, Cora and Titus had spotted the Easter bunny! So, we went to see him and they made a “wooly sheep chocolate egg” and had their faces painted to look just like the Easter bunny they had met! This made their day! Cora and Titus loved arriving at Pastor David and Sue’s home looking like two orange bunnies! Sue, bless her blessing Cora and Titus despite feeling poorly, arranged an Easter egg hunt in her garden! I had fun re-hiding the eggs and the kids loved collecting them! There remains two eggs in her garden which we were unable to find. 🙂

Saturday Ryan used his new grill to smoke leg of lamb and beef for our Easter Dinner. This we gladly shared with Anna on Sunday after church. The kids were once again doted on with a plethora of large chocolate eggs and even the cutest little knitted chicks and bunnies made by Jennie! Many blessings for which to be thankful and the greatest of this is the resurrection of our Jesus…the true reason we celebrate Easter!

Whitby and Thirsk in one day!

Beautiful sunshine drew us to show Grandma Kay the Whitby seaside Tuesday. Unfortunately Cora was poorly with a rash and Titus an earache, but that did not stop them wanting to play amongst the waves on the beach and discovering tiny creatures in the rock pools! This being my second time in Whitby, it was nice to discover the shops and Abbey stairs (I say stairs because we did not climb them to the top) across the bridge. As always the ocean is so beautiful and the sound of the waves is so peaceful! Yet the wind from the North Sea was quite brisk! Ryan and his Mom queued for fish and chips whilst I played with the kids in the rockpools. After eating on the boardwalk, Kay and I walked the pier to the lighthouse. Tired of freezing, we walked on in and out of shops.

Ryan drove us on to Thirsk in time to enjoy afternoon tea in a local cafe garden and the kids loved playing in the play house provided. It was amazing the temperature difference inland verses sea as we all discarded our jackets for tea. The kids also loved seeing ducklings walk by them at the local park. This was a new sight for them to see such newborns. Thirsk was a quaint, Downtown Abbey, village and as most store were closing we decided to return home. Driving home Ryan tried to make me sick winding down the country roads. Yet, all of it was a lovely sight to behold!

Scotland Drive Home

Yesterday, early morning Kay and I roamed the Mile of Edinburgh making last minute purchases and returning Titus’s defective Nessie. Ryan and the kids were locked in the car park, but once freed we said goodbye to beautiful Edinburgh and drove on through several English villages before finally eating lunch. Kay will not miss the hills of Edinburgh as she said it is more hilly than Hannibal, Missouri! And I am sure her knees will enjoy not climbing the 70 stairs to where we were living! 🙂 All of us were famished and short of patience as we had gone through two separate villages in search of lunch before finally reaching Durham. Here we ate the most delicious fish and chips at Belles…yum! After our late lunch we walked the hilly streets of Durham to show Kay gorgeous Durham Cathedral! It was joyful getting to show Kay one of my favourite English villages. Cora and Titus loved adding Legos to the Durham Cathedral Lego display! From here we drove the rest of the way back to Leeds knowing now we need to recover from our holiday!

Edinburgh or Edinburr?

Though grey skies to begin with, our day turned lovely and sunny in Edinburgh (pronounced Edinburr by locals)! At the Town Crier, we were blessed with a free history lesson from a local Scottish tour guide! We learned some fascinating history of Edinburgh, such as the number of claws on the lion statues/flags seen all about determines whether a king or queen was in reign. We also learned that the sound shoes make in the Advocate Hall muffles all chatter. Therefore, it is good for barristers to discuss cases confidentially whilst walking in this hall. Cora thought the barristers wearing wigs were quite interesting. Titus enjoyed the metal detectors we were required to use to enter the hall most fun! At the Advocate Hall there lies John Knox’s grave paved over by car park space number 23!

From here we walked to Greyfriar’s Bobby to see the infamous dog whom would not leave his master’s, John Grey, gravesight! Cora and Titus own a book about this dog and loved walking the church yard as this story came alive for them today! After this we stumbled upon the Elephant House, which is the cafe where J.K. Rawlings wrote the famous Harry Potter series. Kay loved all the elephants and the kids loved the view! Next we climbed higher to Edinburgh Castle where Cora was captivated by the views and Crown Jewels! Titus loved the loud boom of the cannon fired daily at 1pm!

Exhausted, we searched to lunch and all the places we wanted to eat at had too long of a wait. As a result, we ended up at St. Giles Cafe and Titus napped on me while we ate and then everyone went on to the shops while I remained with him to rest. Titus was determined to find a Nessie stuffed toy to take home, but Cora was the first to find hers in pink (a rare find)!

For dinner Ryan and I wee on the search for Haggis, Taddies, and Neeps which we finally found at Deacon and Brodie’s! In this establishment Deacon Brodie frequented and was known to live a double life, thus the inspiration for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde! Delicious Haggis and sausages by the way! Walking nearly the entire Royal Mile twice in one day wore us all out, so it’s off to bed in preparation for more adventures tomorrow!